Jun 14, 2010

Is the European Union (EU) on its way to dissolution? Do the developing economic cracks that seem all but impossible to repair mean that it's over for the EU?

More to the point of our concern here - if the EU were to fail, does it mean that we who believe we are seeing the Roman Empire reviving in the EU are wrong? Thus, will the area out of which Antichrist is foretold to emerge not be western Europe, rather, from somewhere else?

Are those correct who as of late proclaim the "prince that shall come" of Daniel 9:27 will emerge from the eastern leg rather than the western leg of Nebuchadnezzar's dream-vision (Daniel chapter 2)?

These questions cross my email quite frequently these days. Europe's economic problems are worse than those of the United States, it is generally agreed by monetary experts. Could it be that Humpty-Dumpty, who fell apart with the decline and fall of the ancient Roman Empire, who was then patched together in the 1950s and has been coming back together in a major way since, is now on its way to taking another great fall?

I defer in matters of high finance to the experts, such as my friend Wilfred Hahn, when it comes to precisely laying out the case for what is likely to happen in Europe's, America's and the world's precarious economic positions. But there are some important matters within what I believe we see happening, from biblically prophetic standpoint that should be interjected.

Hahn writes:

The Bible tells us that a group of ten ally together out of common self-interest. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the Beast (Revelation 17:13). The large multinational nation groups of today simply have too many conflicts of interest to be of any effective consequence in today’s geopolitical environment. Developments in Asia today also, we believe, play a decisive role in these last-day machinations of ten kings. (Wilfred Hahn, "European Union: Is the Revived Roman Empire Finished?)

It makes perfect sense that the many turf fiefdoms held by the powers large and small across the planet will never - under anything approaching normal circumstances - give in to a central authority. Such acquiescence will have to be wrested from their grip in a painful manner.

One thing is sure: The beast system of Antichrist (Rev. 13: 16-18) will manage, ultimately, to get all governmental entities to give him their power and authority (Rev. 17: 12-13). That power and authority will consist, at its base, of economic control. Hahn correctly surmises, because he relies upon Bible prophecy, that ten entities (called "kings") will ally out of common self-interest. Seven of the ten will willingly give up their power and authority, and three will have it ripped from their grip by the most powerful tyrant ever to draw breath (Dan 7: 24).

Whether the power is taken by willing acquiescence of the seven heads of the entities involved or it is taken by force, as seems to be the case of the three kings having their power and authority stripped from them by the beast in Daniel 7:24, the deed will be done.

It is no surprise. Recent crushing fiscal issues and events point to the inescapable reality that something is going to have to happen soon, or world economic implosion will result. Again, Wilfred Hahn writes:

Recent events are therefore of no surprise. What is always unpredictable in crisis situations, is the specific catalyst that prompts a reappraisal of risk…the sudden awakening to reality. (Ibid.)

I believe that catalyst - the crisis that will cause all sovereign leaderships to realize they must come together to give up their desperately held-onto turf kingdoms - will be the Rapture. The ensuing chaos will cause most everyone left behind to re-think their worldviews. The prince that shall come will have the answers they seek - at least, they will believe him to have the answers.

As expressed before in this column, I'm convinced that a completely changed economic order, based upon Special Drawing Rights (SDR) or a system of electronic funds transfer (computer units, not hard currency of any sort) will be acceptable to most leaderships around the world. The ten kings of Revelation 17:12-13 that correspond to the entities of Daniel 7:24 will perhaps be, in my scenario, ten pan-continental trading blocs modeled on the eurozone prototype. Thus, Daniel's prophecy of the ten-toes final humanistic system of government that Christ's return will smash to pieces will be fulfilled.

I agree with Wilfred Hahn that the current apparent crumbling of Europe in no way means the EU is finished as the prime candidate for the Reviving Roman Empire. The crisis that will bring everything into perfect prophetic alignment, in regard to the 666 beast government, will, I'm more and more convinced, be the shout from heaven: "Come up here!" (Rev. 4: 1)